Feed Our Future and our partners work together to ensure ALL children have access to fresh, healthy and when available local food. We always do our best increase the number of students that have access to fresh and local food. A great way to do this, is with our Totally Tasty taste test events. These events are a fun and interactive way for students to taste test fresh, healthy and when available local food.
Why do we host Totally Tasty Events?
- To introduce and serve students a local or new food item
- Increase local food procurement and consumption in schools
- Elevate the student’s voice through an interactive voting station
The events are designed to be adaptable to each school district we partner with. School districts choose the item, how the item is served and how the students vote. Our goal is to make these events flexible to work in any school district. We partner with schools to understand what works best for them and facilitate the events to best fit the individual needs of the school district. On the day of the event, the students try the sample, then they have the opportunity to vote on it using a Feed Our Future ping pong ball and “Love it”, “Like it”, “Not for me” buckets. The student places the ball in the bucket of their choice, depending on what they thought of the food item. Also, we have a board that students can use to write their thoughts about the item.
The voting station is important for a few reasons:
- Partnering school districts could purchase a small amount of local food to see if the students liked the item, before purchasing a larger amount.
- Students can be introduced to a local food item. Or something entirely new!
- Uplifts the student’s voice about what they are eating, and what could be on their menus one day.
We could not be happier or more excited about the results of our Totally Tasty events during the 2023-2024 school year:
- 10 school districts hosted a Totally Tasty event.
- Over 7,100 students engaged.
- Top three Totally Tasty items: Hydroponic lettuce, Shagbark Tortilla Chips and apples!
That is a whole lot of students all around NEO that tried a fresh, healthy local food item. We can’t wait see what next school year brings!
Access the full report here.